


A family thing

by SrebrnaFH



Series: Legacy of Responsibility [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Because apparently it's a problem, Crying, Friendship, Grief, Morgan Stark (minor mention), Pepper thought she was doing OK, Peter is Iron Man's heir, Peter is a good boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 13:52:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19210765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SrebrnaFH/pseuds/SrebrnaFH
Summary: Pepper thought she was doing OK.Until she wasn't.Because it was May the 29th suddenly.





	A family thing

The progress Peter had made in under three months was astonishing.

Pepper was cautiously keeping her distance from whatever he was tinkering with and considering the results - it had to be the best choice.

With his design blueprints being processed by some of the dedicated lines in the Stark factories, the first capsule was almost ready. Of course they had to test it on a specifically manufactured dummy, because none of them would have risked Morgan, but the primary runs were very promising. Very.

The improvements that had been applied to her own armour - from the communication module upgrade to the improved thrusters that now adjusted to the weight she was carrying much quicker - were all presented to her somewhat off-handedly, as if the boy was ashamed of his suggestions.

What really astonished her was the fact that the improvements were all done on the second armour.

Peter had analysed and - virtually - taken apart her Rescue unit and created a new one. Matte grey coating, a variety of camouflage elements added to make it even less noticeable and the powerful drive, allowing her to haul the capsule (with the passenger) safely around. The original suit had been rather high on the pure power scale already, on par with Tony's lighter set (sacrificing some of the engine power for flexibility and agility) but what Peter presented to her was... Strong. Big. Not graceful or womanly or whatever, which somehow Tony always tried to make it, out of reflex. It was a proper, neutrally-built set of armour aimed at keeping the person inside alive.

It was reassuring. Somehow.

That boy was picking up Tony's legacy quicker than she had expected. She couldn't have tried herself, because her _thing_ were people, not inventions. She could perform, and did, various things typically considered to be "male" area - from hammering in nails on their deck to, well, flying around in an armoured suit and killing a variety of aliens, but design was just... _not_ her thing.

The moment Peter brought her a finished object or a component he thought could have an interesting use, it _was_ her thing. Putting things into motion and making people see the potential _was_ her thing.

Also her thing? Making sure her diligent chief inventor would not collapse due to lack of nutrition. Which translated to occasionally overriding the laboratory controls and making Friday send Peter upstairs so that he could partake in a meal with Morgan and her.

There was a big bowl of spaghetti waiting for the three of them and both "children" were tarrying for some reason. Morgan was most probably trying to work out one of the puzzles on her tablet and Peter was... Yeah, he was shoulders-deep in the new capsule now, poking at the engine and humming something slightly off-key.

"Friday, cut off power from any welding iron or other tool he may be using, please."

A choked expletive flew up the audio link to her when Friday obeyed the request.

"You will come up and eat with us, or so help me, I will ask Friday to activate the capsule, pick you up using that as a shovel and bring you upstairs."

An angry-but-resigned murmur told her Peter would be there in minutes.

Good.

Children needed to eat.

And she definitely needed something to do on that particular day.

Whatever, but she needed.

"Peter, have you given any thought to the summer vacation?" she asked when the light steps behind her told her the boy was joining them at last.

"Hm? Not really? Mostly focusing on my term papers and work. Hadn't even considered what I'd be doing in July."

She picked up some toy left behind by Morgan and fiddled with it.

"Morgan's lessons end in three weeks, same as at her school, so she can take some tests with her class," she said slowly. "We were thinking about leaving for the lakehouse the day after."

He nodded slowly, shrugging. "Yeah. That makes sense. She should not be stuck in the city in the middle of the stinky summer. It's miserable most of the time," Peter turned to the bathroom, looking at his hands with disgust.

"Yes, absolutely," she sighed. "I wanted to make it a family thing."

"Morgan should have company," he answered over the sound of water. "I mean, do you have siblings with kids? She could probably use presence of some cousins."

"Ah, not really..."

It was one of the shirts she had left for him in 'his' room at some point. They weren't new. They were of extremely good quality and cut, but they weren't _new_.

Peter had probably guessed how she could come by not-so-new designer shirts in a 'thin student' size.

They always returned to the hangers in the wardrobe a day after, cleaned and pressed carefully. Tony would have been happy, had he seen his uni time clothes put to use by his...

She felt an incipient crying jag, her eyes tingling, her nose suddenly full and her throat constricting.

"Pepper?" Peter was by her in seconds. "Pepper, what's wrong? Is it Morgan? Something happened to Morgan? Or Happy?"

"N-no," she whispered, and that gave the opening to all these emotions she had been holding in.

She cried.

She heard Peter ask her something, but she could only shake her head and cover her face to try and staunch the flow of tears that overflew her eyes.

And then Peter was hugging her.

Normally they barely touched - like any grownup set of people who weren't really related to each other - a pat on the shoulder, a touch to the hand. Tony was the one to hug the boy, the few times she had seen them together.

Pepper herself had never been very much for touching people - she could, if she had to, and she had a much better track record of diplomatically managing the distance thing with strangers than Tony, but never voluntarily, no. Nobody outside the absolutely closest circle of friends.

But that hug was different than all these enforced social situations in her past. For one, it wasn't forced. Secondly, it was actually heartfelt and honestly _meant_. Peter was a bit shorter than her, but that only reminded her that he was, still, in essence, a kid. A good kid. A good, kind and helpful kid.

A kid brought up by an aunt who instilled in him the basic ideas about being nice towards others. Taking care.

And this was Peter, taking care of her.

"Should I be freaking out?" he asked cautiously. "I mean I can, if I should. I'm very good at freaking out. I'm the king of an unreasonable freakout. But if you'd rather I didn't..."

"N-no," she sighed. "It's just... today."

She almost heard his frown.

"Tony's birthday," she provided. "I think I might not be in the best state right now."

"B-birthday?" his voice broke. "I must have... lost the track of time... I mean, it's weird, I just, I..."

"Yeah. Me too," she patted his shoulder, but he shook his head silently. "What?"

"I can't believe it," he said suddenly. "I'm an idiot."

"No, dear, you..."

"No, seriously, Pepper. I'm like the most ultimate idiot in this city. Sit down. I'll make you that tea you like. Just sit, here," he herded her towards the sofa. "Tea, and then I'll call May. You've met May at the funeral."

"OK..." Pepper allowed herself to be sat down, divested of her slippers and covered with a throw.

"I'll need Happy to go pick her up."

"But, Peter!"

He turned to her, eyes wide and slightly red-rimmed under the tousled fringe of hair.

"You'll see. May knows things like this. Just give me a chance, you'll see. Morgan, don't jump on mummy. Go wash your hands. Friday, place a call to May, please."

Pepper relaxed against the heap of cushions and just stretched there, rubbing at her face helplessly.

"May will be here in five," Peter reported and she sat up, surprised.

The traces of dinner were gone, the bowl covered with cling film sitting on the counter, plates - probably - in the dishwasher, a fresh pot of tea waiting on the low table in front of her.

"You shouldn't have dragged your aunt all that way across the town..."

"She said she was more than happy to. And that when it was her, she wished she had someone to talk to who knew what she was going through."

The lift pinged and suddenly it was too late for anything.

And there was May Parker, stepping inside with Happy assisting her. Happy, who nodded sharply, frowned at Peter suspiciously and stepped back into the lift.

And May was all soft sweatshirts and worn jeans and greying strands in her auburn hair and an embroidered tote bag instead of a purse and she stood there, uncertain, until Peter caught her hand and dragged her closer.

"May, this is Pepper. Pepper, this is May. I know you've met already, but that was not a good day to make friends. May, I'm being a responsible grownup for once - I have no idea what to do or say, so please, _help_."

She looked up, between the aunt and the nephew - _mother and son_ \- and she felt the exchange more than saw it.

"Today is Tony's birthday," Peter said finally. "So, I thought... I can go and take care of Morgan, and you could, you know. Do the talking thing."

May glanced at her and Pepper made an attempt at looking slightly less messy than she felt. If had probably failed, judging from how the older woman's face softened.

"OK," May said finally. "Leave this to me. Go."

Peter patted her shoulder and disappeared in the general direction of the bedrooms.

May sank to the cushions at the end of the large sofa.

"Tea?" Pepper couldn't trust her voice, not really. "It's a very nice blend Tony found for me..."

And she was crying again.

Because of a sodding stupid tea.

Stupid, stupid tea that Tony had found in some obscure little shop and bought for her every three months or so, and that Peter had probably used the last of, because the boy knew she liked it and now there was no more tea and there would never be tea again, because it was _Tony's_ tea and he would never again bring her the damned, triple damned tea...!

She fell apart. In front of a total stranger.

Well, not a total stranger.

But crying over the damned tea in front of Peter's aunt could not have made her look any more of an adult.

"Oh, come here."

The CEO of Stark Industries, Virginia Potts-Stark, found herself being hugged and held and patted and comforted by a woman she barely knew anything about, apart from her ability to raise a truly outstanding nephew.

"Yeah," May sighed. "Yeah, these things will hit you. I cried over Ben's shoes. Stupid, stupid work shoes. I cried over his suits when I was packing them. I cried over his t-shirts and all the ugly ties. I cried when I found his birthday present for me, hidden deep in his sock drawer. I cried over the cereal for three weeks straight."

"B-but I though I was keeping it... I had it all under control...!"

"You are not supposed to," May sighed. "You are supposed to cry when you feel like it and laugh and cry again. You are supposed to grieve him in exactly the way your heart tells you to. And if crying over the tea is it, then it is."

"B-but that's so useless and stupid and..."

"That's human, Mrs wife-of-a-superhero. That's human."

Pepper allowed herself to cry some more.


End file.
